Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An animal with a docked tail.
- noun Something cut short or docked.
- adjective Cut short or docked.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To cut short; curtail.
- Short; cut short; abridged; brief; scant.
- noun A horse or dog with a docked tall: hence applied to a person mutilated in any way.
- noun A short cannon.
- noun A musical instrument of the bassoon kind. Also written courtal, courtel, corthal, cortand, courtant.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Obs A horse with a docked tail; hence, anything cut short.
- adjective Curt; brief; laconic.
- adjective See
Curtail dog .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun historical A variety of short-barrelled
cannon . - noun obsolete A horse or other animal having a
docked tail. - noun music An early type of
bassoon . - adjective obsolete Of horses, having a
docked tail. - adjective Physically
shortened ;short . - adjective obsolete
Abridged ,curtailed .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (obsolete) cut short
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Then there is George Merredith, who writes 16 line sonnets; Hopkins who invents the 6/4.5! proportioned curtal sonnet.
Quick Review 08 : Christian Bök : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation 2007
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“Name her not — and for an instant think not of her,” said the King, again straining the curtal-axe in his gripe, until the muscles started above his brawny arm, like cordage formed by the ivy around the limb of an oak.
The Talisman 2008
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Preach peace to him as much as thou wilt, I will never be he will say thee nay; but as for bidding the first armourer in Scotland forego the forging of swords, curtal axes, and harness, it is enough to drive patience itself mad.
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I think thou couldst not expect I should frame lies for thee; and after all, John, in my broken recollections of that night, I do bethink me of a butcherly looking mute, with a curtal axe, much like such a one as may have done yonder night job.
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Beside it, as if prompt for defending the regal symbol, lay a mighty curtal-axe, which would have wearied the arm of any other than Coeur de Lion.
The Talisman 2008
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It would seem that the manuscript is here imperfect, for we do not find the reasons which finally induce the curtal Friar to amend the
Ivanhoe 2004
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Now, sirs, who hath seen our chaplain? where is our curtal Friar?
Ivanhoe 2004
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Arguments pursued in these poems take the form of "enthymemes," curtal syllogisms, which like the epideictic mode are a legacy of the
'A darkling plain': Hemans, Byron and _The Sceptic; A Poem_ 2001
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At the coronation of James II., and also at that of George I., two of the king's musicians walked in the procession, clad in scarlet mantles, playing each on a sackbut, and another, drest in a similar manner, playing on a double curtal, or bassoon.
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In H in two versions; first as a curtal sonnet (like 13 and 22) on same sheet with the four sonnets 4447, and preceding them: second, an apparently later version in the same metre on a page by itself; with expanded variation from seventh line, making thirteen lines for eleven.
Notes 1918
jeffazi commented on the word curtal
*a Renaissance woodwind, forerunner of the bassoon.
*(obsolete) cut short; "a dog with a curtal tail"
October 31, 2007
bilby commented on the word curtal
See citation on pailliard.
September 6, 2008
jmjarmstrong commented on the word curtal
JM knew a curtal cur who was neither curt nor tall, but rather short, polite and of good family!
August 17, 2009